Genderisms, Decapitated and Smashed Heads: An analysis of Richard Wright’s Major Fiction

About the Book

From the time I met her over forty years ago, I was fascinated by Dr. Jones’ insight to capture Wright’s geniousness and the statement he made about “Black life” in America and its relationship to the African diaspora. At a time when it was not widely recognized in closed shop literary circles, she highlighted her subject’s fixation on the aberrant behaviors of young Black men. Today, largely because of the social conditions in America, Wright’s writings have come to past, and as a conclusion of her scholarship, we now dare to say out loud, “there is a ‘Bigger Thomas’ on every corner in America.” Inspired by growing up in the all Black Douglass community of Memphis, TN, Dr. Jones’ focus on gender studies offers a fresh take on never heretofore discussed issues that portray Wright’s treatment of women. As a native Mississippian, I was immersed in racism, sexism, and many obstacles African American women faced. For me, Dr. Jones’ work makes it all “up close and personal.”

—Carolyn Bell, MS, Harvard School of Public Health

About the Author